


Ghost

by capcarolsdanver



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Post-Endgame, except everyone lived through endgame lmao, multi-chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-11-26 04:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capcarolsdanver/pseuds/capcarolsdanver
Summary: Request: hey! was wondering if you could write something where the reader has powers like ghost from Antman and wasp (molecular phasing / manipulation) but she can’t control it and it hurts her and the avengers (let’s pretend everyone is still alive n well lol) built a machine to help her control it but when she goes in, she gets trapped in the quantum realm and Carol thinks she’s dead but then maybe like a year or so later reader comes back and then Big Fluff? thank u sm !!!





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is always appreciated!! Let me know what you think! Part 2 should be posted soon.  
You can find all of my writing or come talk to me @capcarolsdanver on tumblr!  
Please do not repost my writing anywhere without my permission.

The Avengers all offload from the Quinjet, returning from yet another completed mission. It of course had its own complications, but nothing that the Avengers couldn’t handle. Everyone walks ahead of you, in high spirits and ready for a fun evening. Tony had already invited everyone to have drinks later on and almost everyone agreed, excited to celebrate a successful mission.

You trail behind the rest of the group, removing your helmet from your suit and tucking it under your arm with a grimace on your face. The suit you wear was designed to allow you control over your abilities, designed by Tony Stark himself. It was also built to help reduce the pain you felt throughout your body at almost every moment, however that feature seemed to work less and less as your condition worsened.

Your powers were something you both loved and hated to have. You gained them when you were just a child, a result of a massive accident during a school field trip to a lab which you don’t entirely remember. Immediately after the accident you felt different, and you discovered that you had 'powers’ fairly quickly.

Your body started phasing sporadically, something you had absolutely no control over and something your parents had no clue how to deal with. The pain that came with your powers also began, and though it wasn’t too bad at first, by your teen years you were in constant pain as your phasing worsened.

By that point Tony Stark had somehow found out about your abilities and had recruited you to be an Avenger, offering you your first suit. You always had a sneaking suspicion that your parents had somehow contacted Tony, though he never told you how he found you. You knew your condition was a lot for them to handle and you always had the feeling they didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Luckily, Tony had given you a new home at the Avengers facility and over the years you had come to think of all of these people as your family.

“Hey, great work today, Y/N!” Steve pulls you from your thoughts as you continue following the group back inside Avengers HQ.

“Yeah! You were amazing as usual!” Peter adds on.

“Thanks,” you reply, forcing a small smile on your face. Carol continues walking alongside the others, though she doesn’t miss your forced interaction as she silently watches you. When you all finally get inside the facility, everyone takes off in the directions of their respective rooms to get ready for the night.

You begin slowly making your way to your own room.

“Hey there, hotshot. You want someone to walk you to your room?” You turn your head to see Carol as she falls into step with you, a small smirk on her face.

“If that someone is you, then always,” you say and gently smile at her. Despite your pain, Carol never failed to bring a smile to your face, and that was something you were always thankful for. Her smirk morphs into a smile that matches your own and she holds out her arm for you. You gratefully accept her offer and grab her arm, allowing part of your weight to lean on her without making it seem too obvious.

If Carol notices you leaning your bodyweight on her, she thankfully doesn’t mention it as she walks you down the hall towards your room.

“Are you going to come and have drinks with everyone tonight?” She asks, and judging by the soft expression she carefully aims at you, she already knows the answer before you even have to say it.

“I don’t think so,” you say with a shake of your head. “I’m pretty beat after that mission.”

Carol waits a beat before she replies. “Is the pain bad?” She questions gently, always able to read you like a book.

You hesitate for a second. “A bit,” you reply, ducking the truth slightly. “I’m just tired.”

Of course, all of the Avengers know about the side effects that come with your abilities. The pain you experience has always been the biggest cause of concern, though none of them know just how bad it’s gotten. Realistically, you know you have to tell them soon. But you don’t want to appear weak to any of them, afraid that if you do then you wouldn’t be allowed to work any more missions. And that’s not to mention Carol. You don’t want her any more worried than she already is about you.

When you reach your room, Carol turns to face you and shifts her hands to your waist to steady you. Apparently you weren’t as subtle as you’d hoped.

“Do you want me to stay with you?”

“What? No, Carol! Go have fun!” You insist.

“Are you sure?” She asks.

“Yeah.”

She looks you up and down, searching for any signs of discomfort, something you’d gotten good at hiding around others. She seems satisfied enough, nodding at you.

“Okay. You’ll let me know if you need anything?”

“I will. Now go have fun.”

Her thumb strokes your side where her hand still rests and she’s clearly hesitant to leave you, but she eventually closes the gap between you to lightly kiss you.

“I love you,” she whispers against your lips.

“I love you too,” you reply and smile at her before she walks off towards her own room.

\------------------------

Once you’re in your room and safe from prying eyes, you lean against the door and let out a breath that you’ve probably been holding for too long to mask the pain that ran through your entire body. Thankfully, you’re wearing your suit and at least have some control over your powers, stopping you from phasing in front of anyone. You consider just keeping it on, but the pain relief it usually offers you seems to have become only slightly effective and the suit isn’t the most comfortable thing to wear, so you decide against it.

You unzip the suit and prepare yourself. As you slip out of it, you watch your hands immediately flicker, pain shooting up your arms. Once you are completely out of the suit, your body phases without your control and you fall to the ground, groaning in pain.

After a few moments you are able to pick yourself up and you walk towards your bed. You take a glance at the mirror on your wall and you watch your body flickering, afterimages of you body following as you walk. You can practically feel every cell in your body being torn apart over and over again.

It’s a few hours later when you find yourself sitting at the edge of your bed. You were unable to get any sleep, your body shaking from the pain. Your hands flicker as your bring them up to your face, sobbing out of frustration and pain.

You don’t hear the soft knock at your door but you do hear the gasp that fills the room a moment later. Your head shoots up to find Carol standing in your open doorway, frozen in the action of opening your door. Her concerned eyes are trained on you and you’re surprised to see her to say the least.

“Carol. What are you doing here?”

You get to your feet to walk to her and she watches with wide eyes as your body phases and your face contorts in pain. She rushes to you and is able to steady you with her hands on your waist, but when you move your hand to rest it on her arm for support it phases out, moving straight through her arm.

“I knew something was wrong earlier so I wanted to come back and check on you,” she quickly explains as she leads you back to your bed. When you reach it she makes sure you’re securely seated before kneeling in front of you, finally getting a good look at your tear-stained face.

“Oh my god. Y/N, why didn’t you tell me it had gotten this bad?” She’s clearly trying not to panic. Carol Danvers _never_ panics, but you see her wracking her brains to try and come up with a way to ease your pain.

“I didn’t want to worry anyone,” you weakly offer.

“But if you told us then maybe we could have helped before it got this bad.”

“It’s not like I can be fixed, Carol,” you say defeatedly. “This is only gonna get worse.”

You can practically see Carol’s mind racing still. She grabs your hand and presses a kiss to your knuckles.

“We’ll find a way, baby. We won’t stop trying until we find a way to fix this.”

\------------------------

Tony is expectedly upset when Carol breaks the news to him that your condition has progressed much further than anyone had realised. As he and Bruce run several tests on you, he doesn’t stop talking about how he could have done more to help you had you told him sooner. You feel guilty, knowing now that keeping this from everyone has just made them all even more worried about you than they would have been if you hadn’t hid the worst of it from them.

Tony and Bruce immediately get to work in one of the labs, brainstorming different ideas and ways to help possibly cure your condition. You’re sitting on the couch next to Carol, nervously playing with the new bracelet that’s secured around your wrist. Tony had designed it, based on the same technology he used for your suit. You weren’t quite sure how it worked but it alleviated some of your pain and most importantly kept your body from phasing.

Carol watches you fidget with it for a few moments before reaching for your hand, squeezing it tightly. You let out an exhausted sigh, glad the bracelet can keep your body in check enough for you to relax as you rest your head on Carol’s shoulder.

Nat, who has been pacing up and down the length of the lab impatiently while the two men bounce ideas off of one another, stops abruptly and turns to them.

“Okay, we’re just wasting time here. Let me call Scott.”

“Scott?” Bruce questions. “He’s no scientist-“

“No, but we already know he knows a hell of a lot more about quantum physics than we seem to.”

Bruce and Tony turn to each other, a silent conversation occurring between them, before Tony shrugs.

“Fine. Call him down. The others, too.”

Nat nods and immediately steps out of the room to call Scott. Tony runs a hand through his hair roughly in frustration, grumbling to himself and clearly upset that there seems to be no simple solution to your problem.

Bruce watches his friend and places a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“Hey, Tony. Listen, it’s getting pretty obvious that we might need some help here, right? So how about we wait for Scott and Hank to get here before we try anything else. Okay?” Tony sighs heavily, his eyes on his friend before he unhappily nods.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Alright.” Bruce looks over to you and Carol for a moment, Carol’s arm wrapping around you and keeping you close to her. “Come on, let’s get out of the lab for a while,” he says and pushes a reluctant Tony towards the door, nodding at Carol as their eyes meet. The door shuts behind them and you and Carol are left alone.

“How are you feeling, baby?” Carol says, breaking the silence of the now quiet room.

“I’m feeling like Nat’s first comment was right. This _is_ just a waste of time.”

“What?” Carol shifts to look at you, making you lift your head from her shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if there was a permanent cure, don’t you think Tony would have found by now? I mean, he’s a literal genius.”

Carol sighs, her heart heavy at the defeated tone of your voice.

“Babe. As much as he may act like it, Tony _isn’t_ an expert in every field. On the other hand, Scott knows a lot about this stuff. And Hank and his family know even more about it. If anyone’s gonna help find you a cure, it’ll be them.”

You’re still filled with doubt, although you have to admit that Carol’s positive energy does offer some sort of hope to you.

“At least the bracelet seems to be helping for the time being,” you offer and Carol nods, squeezing your hand that she’s still got a hold of and pulling you back to her side, pressing a kiss to your head.

\------------------------

Scott arrives at the Avengers facility as quickly as he can, alongside Hank, Janet and Hope. Once they’re completely up to speed on your condition, and they see your test results from earlier, they all share looks among one another. They tell the group about a friend of theirs that they tried to help who had a similar condition to you. Ava, also known as Ghost.

“The two conditions are incredibly similar. Perhaps even the same, although I believe that Y/N’s conditions has progressed much further than Ava’s did.” Hank speaks clearly but quickly, the entire group listening intently to his words.

“We need to work quickly to ensure that her body will be able to absorb all the quantum energy it needs quickly, but also safely. She will need to travel within a specific area of the quantum realm for this to work and we don’t want her to be in any more danger.”

It doesn’t take them as long as you expect before they have what appears to be a fully functional machine, specifically designed for the sole purpose of you absorbing quantum energy.

“We haven’t run any full tests, but we believe the chance of anything going wrong is little to none.”

Carol stands opposite Tony and Hank, her arms crossed and she looks at both of them skeptically.

“You’re sure?”

“We’re pretty confident, Carol,” Tony says reassuringly.

“This machine has been built specifically for Y/N to absorb quantum energy, not to travel the quantum realm,” Hank explains. “Yes, she will enter the quantum realm briefly, but it will be within a confined space. While she’s in that space, her suit will give us her location constantly.”

“Basically, she can’t get lost,” Tony adds on.

“Okay. I’m trusting you.” Carol offers a stern look to both men before turning and making her way to you. She helps you finish putting your suit on, besides the helmet, and studies you for a moment.

“How are you feeling, baby? You’re still wearing the bracelet Tony gave you, right?”

“Yeah,” you nod. “I haven’t phased at all since I put it on and the pain’s not too bad right now, so I think I’m feeling okay.”

“Good. Make sure you don’t take it off until this is all over, okay?”

You hesitate only for a moment before you nod in reply. Of course, Carol picks up on your hesitation.

“What is it?”

You see no point in hiding anything from her now. The last time you hid something from her, it obviously wasn’t such a great idea. So you sigh and meet her eyes.

“I’m scared,” you admit. ”I’m not sure if I want to do this. I mean, god. What if I never come back, Carol.” Your voice wavers slightly and Carol is quick to try to calm your fears.

“Hey, baby. Calm down, just breathe. It’s okay, I just talked to Tony and Hank and they have total confidence that this is going to work.” You try to calm your slightly erratic breathing and though you still feel terrified, you feel Carol’s hands landing at your hips, offering some immediate reassurance.

“I promise you it’ll be okay, Y/N.”

“You promise?” Carol’s grip at your hips tightens slightly.

“I promise.”

You take a steadying breath and a small smile forms on your face. “Okay.”

Carol pulls back so she can grab your helmet. She holds it in one hand as the other gently grabs your face and she places a soft kiss to your lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” you whisper back and Carol presses another quick kiss to your cheek before gently pulling the helmet over your head and making sure it attaches to the rest of your suit.

“Y/N, we’re ready to go whenever you are,” You hear Tony shout from one side of the lab.

“I’ll see you in a minute, baby,” Carol says, a reassuring smile on her face and you nod at her before walking over to the quantum chamber that had been built for you. You step in and the door shuts behind you. You nervously look over at Tony, who is accompanied by Bruce and Hank at the control panel.

“Okay, Y/N. When we hit this button right here, you’ll be sent to a confined space within the quantum realm. The suit you’re wearing has been designed to help your body safely absorb massive amounts of quantum energy, which in theory should cure your condition. We’ll count to five, press the button again, and you’ll come back to us. Got it?”

You hold up your thumb to affirm that you understand, and Tony nods.

“Great. Alright, let’s do this. See you soon, kid.”

He starts counting down from five and you take a few more calming breathes before he finishes counting and presses the button. The quantum chamber suddenly flashes with bright light, and when the light fades, you’re gone.

Carol watches anxiously from behind Tony as he begins flipping some switches. “Okay, let’s bring her back. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

Carol holds her breath and Tony presses the button once again. The bright flashing light returns, filling the chamber. When it fades, however, the chamber is still empty.

“Uh. Okay, that’s not right,” Tony mutters quietly to himself, double checking every switch on the control panel before he presses the button again. Once again, the quantum chamber flashes, yet you still don’t reappear.

“Tony, what the hell?” Carol says tensely.

Just give me a minute here,” he replies just as tensely. Hank starts checking the control panel with Tony too, and Bruce brings the monitor closer to him to take a closer look at the information it presented.

“Tony…”

“What?” Tony asks. At Bruce’s silence, he looks up and looks at the monitor that Bruce is now pointing at. “Wait, no. That can’t be right.”

“Somebody better tell me what’s going on,” Carol snaps out, fists clenched as watches the three frantic men at the control panel.

“We- we lost her”, Tony says in disbelief. Carol flinches back slightly at his words.

“We lost her? What the fuck do you mean we lost her?” She feels sick even having to ask the question.

“Her suit has a built in GPS. It’s been sending us a signal and her location was showing up on this monitor before. But now it’s just.. gone.” Bruce keeps his eyes on the monitor, though the readings don’t change.

Carol’s face is furious as she steps forward.

“What, so just like that we’re supposed to accept that she’s gone?” She growls out.

Natasha approaches her to place a hand on her shoulder. “Carol-“

“No!” Carol easily shrugs Nat’s hand away and she steps back sheepishly, still in shock herself. “I can’t accept that!” Carol feels her skin begin to heat up but she doesn’t have the capacity to care about it as she scowls at the scientists across from her.

“You told me this would work! I trusted you and now she’s gone!”

Tony leans on a nearby desk, lowering his head into his hands. “I don’t get it. It should have worked.”

Carol scoffs. “Yeah, well it didn’t.” She begins to glow out of her own control, her fists and her eyes lighting up as she glares at the men. Hank visibly cowers at seeing hints of Carol’s powers for the first time and moves to stand behind the control panel.

“Carol,” Steve says in warning and Carol turns her head to look at him. He clearly carries pain his his eyes at the events that have just occurred too, but he stands strong opposite Carol and shakes his head slightly at her.

The glowing of her body dims, her eyes returning to normal as her gaze softens towards Steve briefly. A second later, she fixes her glare back towards the three scientists and raises a finger towards them.

“You better fix this,” she growls darkly in warning before she turns, releasing a photon blast which hits a desk, and storming out of the lab and finally letting her tears roll down her cheeks as she feels her heart break.


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part 2!! Hopefully you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Feedback is always appreciated, so please let me know what you think!!  
You can find all of my writing or come talk to me @capcarolsdanver on tumblr!  
Please do not repost my writing anywhere without my permission.

The lab is quiet, almost eerily so, and shrouded in what would be complete darkness if it weren’t for the single desk lamp offering some light to the large room. The light illuminates softly across Carol’s features, her head resting on her hand and her body leaning heavily back into the office chair she’s sitting on. At some point in the night she’d drifted asleep, a rare thing for her nowadays, and so she’s completely unaware to the footsteps that break the silence.

She startles awake at the sudden feeling of a hand on her shoulder, immediately holding her clenched fists up at the intruder.

“Woah, woah. Slow down there, Captain.” Steve stands in front of her, calmly holding his hands out in front of his body in defence. Carol breathes out a sigh of relief before dropping her fists.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, shifting in her seat and moving from her slumped position to sit up straighter. She stretches her arms out a little before rubbing a hand down her face. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Steve says, unreadable eyes watching Carol. “It’s getting pretty late, though. I was about to head to bed and figured I’d come by and check that you’re doing the same.”

Carol’s eyes instinctively glance towards the quantum chamber, unmoved in the lab since you’d gone but still active, before she looks back at Steve.

“Thanks, but I think I’m gonna stay in here a little longer.”

Steve keeps his gaze on Carol, sorrow filling his eyes as he watches his friend. He pulls a chair out from the desk next to him and sits down, facing Carol.

“Listen, Carol,” he says carefully. “I completely get why you feel like you have to do this. But it’s been almost a year-“

Carol scoffs, cutting Steve off and sending him a look of warning.

“You really think you have to remind me how long it’s been?”

“No, of course not!” Steve replies quickly. He takes a deep breath, contemplating his next words before they leave his mouth. “It’s just- There’s been no sign of her, Carol. No signal from her suit, nothing to point us to where she could have gone to.”

“What’s your point?” Carol snarls out defensively.

“My point is, a year is a long time to be sitting in an empty lab waiting for something to happen when there’s still been no sign that it will.”

Steve’s words are followed by several beats of tense silence. Carol glues her eyes to a spot on the wall behind Steve, her face unreadable and she swallows thickly.

“If I remember correctly, there was a time not too long again when everyone spent 5 years hoping for their loved ones to appear again without so much as a trace of where they could have gone.”

Steve blinks in response and not slowly at her. “Well, you got me there. But Carol-“

“Steve, stop,” Carol snaps, her eyes meeting Steve’s. “I can’t just go on with my life like everything’s fine while she’s still in there, okay? As long as there’s a chance, I’m staying right here.”

“Carol,” Steve tries with a calming tone. “I understand, okay? But you need to get some rest. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

Carol shakes her head. “You don’t understand at all. I-“

She cuts herself off, rapidly blinking away the tears that suddenly threaten to fall. Steve patiently waits a moment before speaking.

“You what, Carol?”

Another beat passes and Steve watches as Carol’s demeanour practically crumbles right in front of him, no longer able to hold back the tears that she’s held in for so long.

“I promised her, Steve. She was scared. She was still questioning if she even wanted to do it and I looked her in the eyes and I promised her that it would be okay. That she would be okay.”

Steve feels his own unshed tears stinging at his eyes as he helplessly watches his friend fall apart right before his eyes.

“Carol. None of this is your fault. You know that, right?”

She shrugs. “I could have listened to her better, realised exactly how scared she was. God, I just wish I didn’t push her into it like I did.”

“Hey,” Steve says, reaching a hand out to grasp Carol’s arm. “You didn’t push her to do anything. Everyone, including Y/N, knew that this was probably Y/N’s only chance at getting better. If she didn’t take that chance, her condition probably would have already killed her by now.”

Carol lowers her eyes silently in thought for a moment before Steve stands up.

“I’m gonna head to bed now. You sure you don’t want to do the same?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Carol replies, wiping haphazardly at her tears. “Thanks, Steve.”

Steve nods and rests a hand on Carol’s shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yeah. Goodnight,” Carol offers, managing a small smile which Steve returns before he turns and leaves the lab.

Carol watches him leave before turning her head to look back at the quantum chamber, letting out a deep sigh.

\------------------------

A few nights later, Carol’s heading to the lab when she notices a light coming from one of the communications rooms. She stops when she realises that it’s Nat sitting at the table. Her eyes are locked on her phone screen, absentmindedly taking bites from the half of a sandwich she has in her other hand.

“Nat,” Carol greets, nodding when Natasha looks up and smiles at her.

“Hey, Carol.”

“What are you doing?” Carol says, making her way into the room. “This kinda seems like an odd place to eat a sandwich at this time of night.”

Nat looks down at the remainder of her sandwich.

“Huh, I guess this does seem kind of weird. I was just catching up with Clint.” She gestures towards the side of the room where people’s holographic figures appear during calls. “It had been a while since he checked in but, you know, he’s got a lot of time to make up for with his family.” A soft smile makes its way to Nat’s face at the thought of Clint getting his happy ending with his family.

“Right,” Carol says, doing her best to match Nat’s smile.

“Are you heading to the lab?” Nat had always been one of the most sympathetic towards Carol’s situation, understanding why she felt the need to stay in the lab so much. She’d done her fair share of waiting for a miracle to happen a few years ago, too.

“Yeah,” Carol nods.

“Have you had anything to eat?” Nat asks knowingly and Carol drops eye contact with her, shaking her head.

“Not really, no. But I’ll be fine-“

“Don’t try that with me, Danvers. You know I’m not gonna let you go in there for the night without eating something first.” She fixes Carol with a stern look and Carol takes a slow breath in, releasing it in a small huff.

Really, she was thankful that Nat had constantly made sure that she’d been taking care of herself for the last year or so. Though Carol had barely managed to meet the basics when it came to her self-care, she knew she would have a lot more worse off without Nat. She would eventually thank her one day, when she could start caring about anything other than that damn quantum chamber again.

“Here, have the second half of my sandwich,” Nat says, sliding the plate with the remainder of the sandwich across the table in Carol’s direction.

“I’m not going to take your food, Nat.”

“Please. I don’t want the rest. Besides, I talked to Clint a lot longer than I had planned to and I’m pretty tired, so I was about to turn in for the night, anyway.”

She watches Carol, who doesn’t make a move, before standing and walking passed her towards the door.

“Goodnight, Carol. You better eat that,” she says in light warning before she leaves Carol alone.

Carol considers just walking out and heading straight to the lab, but instead decides to follow Nat’s orders. She picks up the diagonally cut half, mentally taking note that Fury would be horrified with Nat’s sandwich cutting technique, and takes a bite. It’s surprisingly more satisfying than she thought it would be and she takes a second bite, pausing when she hears a sound coming from somewhere down the hallway.

Carol leans out of the doorway and waits, hearing another unfamiliar sound down the hallway in the direction of the lab. She completely forgets about the sandwich, leaving it behind as she begins making her way down the hall.

“Nat? Is that you?” She calls out, being met with no response but seeing some kind of glowing coming from one of the small windows of the lab, lighting the dark hallway for a brief moment.

“What the hell,” she mutters to herself, allowing her powers to illuminate her fists as she reaches the door, slowly pushing it open and glancing in.

It takes her only a moment to realise that the light and sounds are coming from the quantum chamber, and she quickly jumps into gear, rushing over to the control panel. Not that she can make any sense of it, but Carol knows that Tony had kept everything active upon her request in the event of any activity occurring that might go completely unnoticed if the machine wasn’t constantly running.

Of course, Tony had concerns about doing this as it left what was basically a portal to and from the quantum realm open. But he had managed to implement some pretty heavy security measures, having F.R.I.D.A.Y. on constant alert for anyone or anything entering through the chamber without a trackable device on, such as the suits that Tony had designed.

A sudden beeping sounds from the monitor and Carol pulls it towards her to see some sort of radar on the screen. Though isn’t sure what she’s looking at, she notices a reading of some kind appear in the form of a dot on the radar. Another sound comes from the quantum chamber, the machine beginning to whir and Carol panics, unaware of what’s happening.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., GET TONY!” She shouts, her eyes darting between the monitor and the chamber in front of her.

“I believe Mr Stark is currently sleeping, Captain.”

“I don’t care, wake him up and tell him to get his ass here. Now.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replies.

Carol nervously watches the chamber, taking slow steps towards it when a sudden bright burst of light spreads across the room from the chamber. Carol quickly shields her eyes from the light until it dims down just a little, and she moves her arm to squint towards the chamber.

She sees movement through the light and when it finally dims completely, a figure that wasn’t there a moment ago stands in the centre of the chamber. Carol furrows her brow as her eyes adjust and when they do finally focus, she lets out a gasp, recognising the familiar form in front of her immediately.

“Y/N?!”

\------------------------

Carol stands frozen in place, staring at you in disbelief, not entirely sure if she’s dreaming or not. She’s snapped back into reality, though, when you remove your helmet and your legs waver before they give out under you. You fall to the ground, landing on your hands and knees, dropping your helmet in the process.

Carol hastily, though carefully, approaches you, dropping to the floor beside you. Her hand is shaking when she carefully reaches out to place it on your back. You instantly flinch back at the contact before turning to look at her.

“Carol?”

Her eyes well with tears the moment she hears your voice, and she lets out a sob as the tears begin freely falling.

“Oh my god, it’s really you,” she cries out. Her hands are still shaking when she pulls you into her, wrapping her arms securely around you.

“Of course it’s me,” you say, leaning into Carol’s body and bringing your own arms up to embrace her. You aren’t sure quite how long you were in the quantum realm for, but if Carol’s reaction is anything to go by, it was a lot longer than you thought.

It’s after a long moment that Carol pulls back, her hands coming to rest on your shoulders before one comes up to tuck some stray hair behind your ear. Her eyes scan your face, disbelief still present in them.

“I missed you so much,” she whispers, her forehead meeting yours and you watch as her tears continue to roll down her face.

You’re about to start asking her exactly what happened when the lab doors swing open and Tony runs in.

“What’s happening?” He says, in a panic after receiving F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s rushed wakeup call from Carol. He sees Carol’s form crouched over where she’s still on the floor. “Woah, woah. Carol, you know it’s not safe to go in the chamber without a suit when it’s still active.”

It’s not until he’s already at the control panel quickly shutting everything down that he realises that Carol isn’t alone in the chamber.

“Y/N.” His mouth drops in shock at the sight of you. “It worked,” he says, loud enough for you and Carol to hear him.

“Yeah. Only a year too late,” Carol scoffs at him, her eyes still glued firmly on you. You feel your eyes widen at her words.

“A _year?_ I was in there for a year?”

“The longest year of my life,” she quietly confesses. She can’t keep her hands off you, almost like she’s holding onto you so you can’t leave again. “I thought I’d lost you.” Her words come out like a whimper.

“Hey, baby.” You aren’t sure how you can comfort her, so you let her tighten her grip on you and you rest your own hand on her cheek, gently wiping at her tear-streaked skin with your thumb. “I’m here now, okay? That’s all that matters.”

“I’m so sorry-“ she tries but you shush her gently, shaking your head.

“Carol, baby. Whatever happened- none of it was your fault, okay?”

Carol hesitates for just a second before she nods. You feel the tension release from her shoulders as you pull her in for a sweet kiss, and she melts into your touch before you hear someone clearing their throat somewhere beside you.

“So sorry to break this up, especially after the year that Carol’s just had.” He shrugs apologetically at Carol who shoots him a light glare. “But we really need to make sure everything was successful. Do you mind taking your suit off?”

You glance at Carol, who nods and stands before helping you to your feet. She helps to unzip your suit and remove it, revealing the tights and tank top you have on underneath. Tony studies you carefully the whole time.

“You don’t appear to be phasing whatsoever, although you do still have the bracelet on. Any pain?” It’s at that moment that you realise that for the first time in almost your entire life, you don’t have any pain coursing through the cells of your body.

“No,” you say in surprised amazement and Tony smiles.

“Great. Now let me just-“ Tony grabs your wrist lightly, unclasping the bracelet he’d designed for you and slipping it off your wrist, his eyes still on you. Carol watches you carefully as well, holding her breath as she stands by your side.

When your body doesn’t react at all, even after the bracelet has been off for a few long moments, Tony’s face breaks out into a grin.

“Congrats, kid. I think we just cured you.”

You look from Tony to Carol in silent awe, your own grin breaking out on your face before you turn back to Tony and tackle him in a hug, squealing in celebration a little as you do so. It takes a second, but Tony’s arms slowly engulf you in a hug in return too.

“Thank you, Tony,” you say, resting your chin on his shoulder. “I know it wasn’t just you that built the machine, but you have always helped me. Thank you so much.”

You pull back, quickly pressing a kiss to Tony’s cheek. You clearly take him by surprise and you giggle at his reaction.

“Of course. There was no way I wasn’t gonna help you, kid.” He smiles warmly at you before his eyes reach Carol’s. “Okay, I’m gonna leave you two alone, now. Anything else happens, you come get me. Got it?”

“Got it. Thanks, Tony.”

He smiles at you one more time and heads back out of the lab. You turn back to Carol, who’s still watching you in complete awe.

“You know, you shouldn’t be thanking him so much,” Carol says, a teasing glint in her eye. “I mean, you were in there for a _year_. If anything, _he_ should be thanking _me_ for not kicking his ass during that time.”

You roll your eyes but, as usual, you’re unable to hide your smile from her. You slide your arms around her neck.

“Shouldn’t we just be focusing on the fact that I’m back now?”

Her arms slide around your waist and she hums in agreement as the two of you stand happily in each other’s arms.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Carol wears the softest smile on her face as she continues to look at you. “God, I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says, her grip around your waist tightening ever so slightly.

“I knew I would be okay. You promised me, remember?”

Carol’s smile widens a little and she nods lightly. “Yeah, I remember.”

She leans her head in to steal another kiss from your lips, this one a little deeper than your previous one. When you both separate, a small grin comes to your face.

“You know, this is the longest we’ve ever been able to hold each other like this without me phasing. At least without me having to wear a suit or bracelet, anyway.”

“I know. I like it a lot,” Carol says.

“Me too,” you chuckle softly before a silence settles between you both for a moment.

“Do you think I’ve still got any of my powers at all?” You ask, suddenly curious. “Or what if all that quantum energy I absorbed has given me different powers? Or even just the ability to control them a lot better without being in pain anymore?” Carol stops you before you can rattle off even more questions, smirking at your eagerness to know more about the current state of your abilities.

“All great questions. For tomorrow,” she says, pulling back from your embrace to hold your hands between the two of you. “How about for now we go and get some sleep? You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent night’s sleep, but something tells me that tonight that’s gonna change.”

You happily oblige, smiling to yourself as Carol begins leading you to your room, knowing that, finally, you get to fall asleep in the arms of the woman you love without any more obstacles to hold you back.


End file.
